Naperville North boys tennis welcomes Metea Valley with the DVC regular season winding down. Both teams are fresh off of conference road wins with the Mustangs taking down Waubonsie Valley and the Huskies narrowly defeating Naperville Central. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Metea Valley gathers an early edge thanks to doubles play
Beginning with number one doubles where Metea Valley’s duo of Rish Railkar and Ameya Tyagi take on Brandon Dumbell and Noah Eun from North. The Huskies pairing in back together after Dumbell spent some time in singles in recent weeks.
Dumbell serves in the near court but Ameya Tyagi is ready and lines a return into the back corner. A perfect placement for the point as the Mustangs jump out to a 3-0 lead in the first set.
Later in the set, Eun serves for the Huskies. The Mustangs have several returns but North is able to be the aggressors attacking the net. Dumbell takes a lob and hammers it down for the point. The Huskies are right back in it.
Tyagi serves in the far court, North sends it back but Railkar leaps in for the smash. Metea Valley takes the win in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
In number two doubles we have the powerful Huskie pairing of Qooly Somozo and Aarush Bhardwaj against the smooth and steady Royce Lalani and Mihir Arya from Metea Valley.
Lalani serves in the near court and he comes up towards the net, keeping his volleys low to keep the Huskies from getting full use of their power. The Mustang is then able to use the power on a smash for the point. Metea rolls in the opening set 6-1.
In set two, the Huskies find their footing and show how they can be so dangerous. Bhardwaj with a big serve before Somozo leaps up for a monster smash right near the net.
Naperville North serving again later in the set, this time looking to use lobs to chase the Mustangs to the back line. Arya does a nice job to track down the ball, but now the Huskies approach the net and Bhardwaj spikes home the point.
Metea Valley looking to close things out leading 5-3 in set number two. Lalani with the serve and returns designed to keep the ball low once again. That allows Arya to step in to smash home the lob. The Mustangs hold on for a two set victory 6-1, 6-3. Metea also wins at four doubles while North gets a win at three doubles.
Naperville North picks things up in singles play
In order to win the match, the Huskies now need to sweep the three singles matches. Alex Maitland moves into number three singles for North as he faces Nikash Divakaruni from Metea Valley.
Maitland wins the first set 6-4, but the Mustang is in control most of the second set. Divakaruni is a slower paced player who likes for force his opponent to beat themselves. That is exactly what he does here with a series of nice returns until Maitland sends one too long that lands out of bounds. We head to a third set after the Mustang takes set two by a 6-2 score.
Maitland is able to regain control in the third set as he serves in the far court. While Divakaruni is able to send the ball back over several times, Maitland drops a cutting shot just over the net for the point and wins set three 6-3 to add to the Huskie tally.
Metea Valley adds to the team total in one singles
Naperville North freshman Yanson Lew has performed well at two singles all season, now he moves up to the number one spot for the blue and orange. His first DVC test is one of the toughest in the area as Akshay Baid awaits for the Mustangs.
Baid looks to remain undefeated in conference play, but the young Huskie is not going to go down without a fight. Yew gets the backhand going late in the first set and blasts one down the line that stays in bounds. A beautiful return earns some applause from his opponent.
Lew looking to show some power on his serve but Baid sends a strong liner back the other way and forces the ball into the net.
Despite some promising flashes, Lew is unable to keep up with Baid in this matchup. The Mustang with a great serve that Lew sends back before Baid quickly puts away for the point and the victory in straight sets, 6-0, 6-1.
Wrapping things up at two singles where Jack Jordan returns for Metea Valley as he faces another Naperville North freshman, Max Buxbaum who moves up from number three singles.
Late in the opening set, Buxbaum uses a lot of spin on his return, using more finesse than power but on this point he unleashes a strong forehand shot that evades Jordan for the point. The Huskie takes the opening set 6-0.
A much different story in the second set as Jack Jordan finds his footing. He approaches the net following his serve and goes underhand to push a shot past Buxbaum for the point as it’s a tight one set two.
Buxbaum hopes to close things out late in the set as the pair exchange a long volley of lobs near the back line. Neither player can seem to get the upper hand, so Jordan takes a little off one of his returns that lands just over the net. Buxbaum runs up and just drops it back over for the point. He takes set two 6-4 to pick up another singles victory. However, Metea Valley boys tennis hangs on for the team victory by a 4-3 score over Naperville North following an entertaining afternoon of tennis.
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